Hanging appliances for drying and airing lightweight garments



May 29, 1956 M. LAUGHTON 2,747,746

HANGING APPLIANCES FOR DRYING AND AIRING LIGHTWEIGHT GARMENTS Filed Aug. 26, 1954 United States Patent HANGING APPLIANCES FOR DRYING AND AIRING LIGHTWEIGHT GARMENTS Malcolm Laughton, Birmingham, England, assl gnor to Twinco Limited, Birmingham, England, a British com- Application August 26, 1954, Serial No. 452,374

2 Claims. (Cl. 211-113) Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an inverted plan of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an elevation to an enlarged scale of a part of the central suspending member showing one of the support means.

Figures 6 and 7 are perspective views showing the method of assembly of asocket and a support means.

The embodiment illustrated is conveniently moulded in plastic. The central suspending member comprises a rod 1 circular in section formed with a hook 2 at one end by which it may be suspended and with protuberances or support parts of enlarged diameter 3 at its other end and at spaced intervalsalong its length. The protuberances 3 may be of substantially spherical or ovoid shape and may have a waist or recess at their median parts as shown in Figure 5. a Cross members 4 are formed by rods, in cross section circular with a depending web Ice ' 5 to resist bending. Each cross member 4 is formed pended. When the suspending member is formed separately' from the cross member it is normally connected to the cross member by a screwed connection, or by forming a head or enlarged portion on the lower end of the suspending member and passing its upper end through a hole in the cross member before the formation of the hook at its upper end. Where both cross member and suspending member are of metal the connection may also be welding, brazing or soldering.

Airers are also known in which the central suspend ing member is extended and has connected to it a number of spaced parallel cross members, each adapted to fit inside and support one garment. The connections between the cross members and the suspending member are usually by one of the means described above so that it is difiicult or impossible to remove the cross members from the suspending member when once the connections have been made.

The broad object of the present invention is to provide improvements in garment hangers of the type comprising a central suppoiting member and a plurality of cross-members attached to the central supporting memher in vertically spaced relation.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger for drying and airing lightweight garments comprising a central suspending rod and cross members, spaced protuberances along the suspending rod for supporting the cross members, a gapped and bored boss at the middle of each cross member, the upper part of the bore of the boss being of diameter enabling the suspending rod to slide easily through it but not to permit the passage of a protuberance, the lower part of the bore of each boss being of diameter such as to receive at least a part of a protuberance and the gap of each boss being such as to enable the boss to be passed laterally on to the rod, whereupon it may be lowered to engage a protuberance.

The protuberances may be of substantially spherical or ovoidal shape, and the lower part of the bore of each boss is preferably correspondingly shaped to fit snugly over at least the upper part of a protuberance.

Further objects of the invention will be made ap parent in the following description of an embodiment of the invention which is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows the assembled hanger carrying two garments.

Figure 2 is an elevation to an enlarged scale of the middle portion of a cross member showing the socket part.

with a gapped and bored boss 6 moulded integrally at its middle portion for quickly connecting it to the central suspending member 1. The upper part 7 of the bore of the boss 6 is of diameter large enough to enable the rod 1 of the suspending member to slide easily through it, but not to permit a protuberance 3 to pass through. The lower part 8 of the bore is of greater diameter, forming a cup or socket to receive and fit snugly over the upper part of a protuberance 3, as shown in Figure 7.

The gap 9 of the boss is of width substantially equal to the diameter of the rod of the suspending member 1 to enable the boss 6 to be passed laterally on to the rod as shown in Figure 6, after which it may be lowered to engage a protuberance as shown in Figure 7. A pair of inwardly directed ribs 10 are formed on the walls of the gap 9, their extremities being spaced apart a distance slightly less than the diameter of the rod 1 so that the rod 1 snaps into position in the bore 7 as the boss is passed laterally over it. The ribs 10 thus prevent unintentional removal of a cross member from the sus pending member if it is lifted off the protuberance when a garment is placed on it or removed from it.

As a further guard against unintentional removal of a cross member from the suspending member the part 11 of the central suspending member immediately above each protuberance 3 is increased in diameter by a small amount so that it is greater than the width of the gaps 9 in the bosses 6 so as to prevent the easy passage of this increased diameter through the gap. The boss cannot be easily removed from the rod 1 unless it is first lifted above the part 11 of increased diameter, as shown in Figure 6.

To strengthen the cross member 4 where it joins the boss 6, a web 12 is formed on its upper surface in the angle between the upper part of the boss 6 and the rod 4.

For convenience in storage or for arrangement of the parts of the hanger on a display card the upper part 13 of each boss 6 is formed with an outer diameter to iit and be frictionally engaged in the lower socket part 8 of another boss. This enables the cross members to be nested together when detached from the suspending member.

This construction according to the present invention provides for the quick and easy assembly or disassembly of the hanger and also for the removal of any of the cross members with the garment it may be supporting without disturbing any of the others.

A further advantage of this construction is that the central rod is rotatable with respect to the cross members, so that its hook may be directed in any direction with respect to the cross members. This adds to the convenience in use of the hanger in small or awkwardly shaped cupboards or spaces.

I claim:

l. A garment hanger for drying and airing lightweight garments comprising a central suspending rod andv cross members, spaced protuberances along the suspending rod for supporting the cross members, a gapped and bored boss at the middle of each cross member, the upper part of the bore of each boss being of diameter enabling the suspending rod to slide easily through it but not to permit the passage of a protuberance, the lower part of the bore of each boss being of diameter such as to receive at least a part of a protuberance, the gap of each boss being of width substantially equal to the diameter of the suspending rod to enable the boss to be passed laterally on to the suspending rod, whereupon it may be lowered to receive and rest upon a protuberance, and the part of the suspending rod immediately above each protuberance being increased to a diameter slightly greater than the width of the gaps of the bosses for preventing unintentional removal of the cross members from the suspending rod.

2. A garment hanger for drying and airing lightweight garments comprising a central suspending rod and cross members, spaced protuberances along the suspending rod for supporting the cross members, a gapped and bored boss at the middle of each cross member, the upper part of the bore of each boss being of diameter enabling the suspending rod to slide easily through it but not to permit the passage of a protuberance, the lower part of the bore of each boss being of diameter such as to receive at least a part of a protuberance, the gap of each boss being of width substantially equal to the diameter of the suspending rod to enable the boss to be passed laterally 'on to the suspending rod, whereupon it may be lowered to receive and rest upon a protuberance, and opposed inwardly directed ribs on the walls of the gap of 'each boss, the extremities of the ribs being spaced apart a distance slightly less than the diameter of the suspending rod so that the ribs snap over the suspending rod when the boss is passed laterally onto it.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 552,176 Foster Dec. 31, 1895 946,594 Brock Jan. 18, 1910 ,141,554 Klumpp June 1, 1915 2,305,234 Bratz Dec. 15, 1942 2,557,627 Baril June 19, 1951 2,593,356 Smith Apr. 15, I952 FOREIGN PATENTS 204,022 Germany Nov. 10, 1908 

